Mr. Basketball of Illinois 2010 | Waukegan's Jereme Richmond

2010 Illinois Mr. Basketball Jereme Richmond, senior at Waukegan High School, poses for a portrait in the driveway of his parents' home in Waukegan on Saturday, April 3, 2010.

2010 Illinois Mr. Basketball Jereme Richmond, senior at Waukegan High School, poses for a portrait in the driveway of his parents' home in Waukegan on Saturday, April 3, 2010. (Lane Christiansen / Chicago Tribune)

The size advantage goes to the little player in this game of one-on-one.

She squirms in and out of tight spaces with precision, using her opponent's 79-plus inches against him.

Her godfather may be a great basketball player, but he's got nothing on the 9-year-old in hide-and-seek.

"He's not very good at it," Jordan Richmond said. "I always win."

Jereme Richmond was 8 years old and no longer the baby of the family when Jordan was born. Kim and Bill Richmond sensed that he was less than thrilled.

2010 Illinois Mr. Basketball Jereme Richmond

Lane Christiansen / Chicago Tribune

Illinois Mr. Basketball Jereme Richmond, senior at Waukegan High School, poses for a portrait with his sister Jordan, 9, who is also his goddaughter, in their family's home in Waukegan on Saturday, April 3, 2010.

Illinois Mr. Basketball Jereme Richmond, senior at Waukegan High School, poses for a portrait with his sister Jordan, 9, who is also his goddaughter, in their family's home in Waukegan on Saturday, April 3, 2010. (Lane Christiansen / Chicago Tribune)

They made the youngest of their three sons the godfather of his little sister. She turned out to be one of his best friends.

Though he may be the state's most scrutinized high school basketball player of all time for his actions on and off the court, there is a side of the Waukegan forward, McDonald's All-American and 2010 Mr. Basketball of Illinois award winner that few have seen.

"From the moment she became his godchild to this day, that is one of his most serious responsibilities," Kim Richmond said. "If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have the same level of responsibility and discipline that she does. He always wants to know what she's up to. I don't think he does her hair, but he does everything else. He plays with her, whatever she wants to do. He runs through the house with her like he's 9.

"Every now and then you'll open a closet, and there she is, hiding. They even have a special handshake because she saw how he does that with his teammates. He does a great job as a big brother making her feel special."

Richmond is the product of a large extended family. Bill and Kim Richmond each have five siblings, many of them accomplished athletes.

Jereme has two older brothers, William, 27, and Justin, a 21-year-old University of St. Francis junior who averaged 8.8 points and 4.6 rebounds this season for the Fighting Saints.

Taking his lumps against his older brothers undoubtedly made Richmond a better player.

"The frustrations were pronounced when he was younger," Bill Richmond said. "I coached him in fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade. He would make these passes, and it was like, 'How did he see that?' They would hit his teammates and bloody their face. I never encouraged him to turn it off. I told him to keep doing what he was doing and at some point it would connect."

Richmond attended North Shore Country Day in Winnetka as a freshman, committing to Bruce Weber and Illinois after his first high school game.

Feeling it was a better fit, the Richmonds decided on Waukegan, where Justin had been an accomplished player, following his freshman year. Richmond butted heads with then-first-year Waukegan coach Ron Ashlaw and was kicked off the team before completing his sophomore season.

"Transferring to Waukegan was a big homecoming for him," Kim Richmond said. "It went to his head, and he wound up getting kicked off the team. We were having growing pains raising a kid.

"To our family, it didn't seem like a big deal, just typical teenager problems, but not only was he getting a bad rap, but the coach and school were too."

Another transfer -- a third school in three years -- was out of the question. Instead, Kim Richmond mediated a reconciliation between Jereme and Ashlaw.

"We're all on that path of maturing, myself included," Ashlaw said. "People go through the process of figuring out how things work. He's 18, and a young 18. That often gets forgotten because he has been part of the lives of people who follow high school sports for three years."

Richmond led Waukegan downstate as a junior and again as a senior, but that did little to quiet the message-board critics, who pounced on every bump in the road behind the anonymity of their computers.

Through all the ups and downs, he found comfort in a special relationship few knew existed.

"That is my little girl right there," Jereme Richmond said of his sister/godchild. "I took the role very seriously from the start. I take it more seriously than basketball. I was the first one to wash her hair. I used to give her baths, change her diapers, take her to the park and the forest preserve.

"She kind of had it tough growing up with brothers so far apart in age, so I try to hang out with her whenever I can. She has been an escape for me at times. She doesn't care if I had a bad day or missed the last shot. She just cares about her brother."